


A Love of Fire and Ice

by morebeesthanyoucouldimagine



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, First Love, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-08-25
Packaged: 2018-11-09 05:33:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11097948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morebeesthanyoucouldimagine/pseuds/morebeesthanyoucouldimagine
Summary: As a young child, Eren had always dreamed about joining his heroes and fighting to protect innocent civilians. That dream has been all but crushed as Eren can barely able to afford college, let alone the thousands of dollars it would cost to get his powers registered. But when he meets a man whose touch alone soothes the aching fire within him, can Eren find the determination and hope to become the hero he was born to be?





	1. A Strange, Beautiful Feeling

Eren’s heart thundered harshly in his chest as he forced his legs to run faster down the hallway. His training was supposed to improve his stamina and allow him to catch up, but the bastard in front of him kept getting farther and farther away from him. They ran past classrooms and common areas, startling students that were just trying to study for their finals, and relax in between classes. Eren got nearly got coffee spilled on himself a few times as he wove through the crowds.

He wasn’t worried about getting burned by the scalding liquid, but he didn’t want his homemade costume to get ruined. He spent months putting it together with Armin and now it finally looked somewhat presentable and had minimal visible duct tape. Armin told him that removing the tape would ruin the structural integrity of the makeshift suit, but what’s the point of being a vigilante if you can’t look presentable while fighting for good?

Eren’s breath was ragged as he noticed that the scumbag seemed to be slowing down a little bit now. Hope sparked within Eren and he found himself able to push his legs harder. As Eren finally pushed through the last of the crowd that was clogging the hallway, he felt like he actually had a chance to catch this asshole. 

The man he was chasing glanced over his shoulder at Eren before taking a sharp turn and running down a stairwell that lead to the outside of the physics building. Eren’s feet hit the ground harder as he picked up the pace even more. If he was going to catch this punk, then he would need to take a short cut. 

Eren placed one hand on the stair railing and jumped over it, grunting in pain as he failed to land on the next floor properly. He struggled to keep running at the same speed, but he was only a few feet away from the thief. If he could just keep chasing him, then there was a chance that he would simply outrun him, perhaps he would even be too tired to put up a fight. 

As Eren started to close the gap between them even more, he felt hope breathe a fire under his skin. Armin had told him that hope was simply a strong motivator, especially for Eren, but Eren knew that it was something more than that. He didn’t know the full extent of his powers, but there were other superheroes who had powers triggered by emotions, who was to say that Eren’s weren’t strengthened by hope.

And as much as Eren wanted to test out his powers, he legally couldn’t. He would only be able to do so if he got himself registered. Registration required three things: a shit ton of paperwork, thorough medical exams, and of course, money. Eren was a fucking college kid who barely had enough time for the first two, and he most certainly didn’t have enough money. Armin’s grandfather had been taking care of him for the last few years and helping him pay for his books, he wouldn’t dare ask Mr. Arlert to part with even more money for his own sake.

Eren just hoped that one day he could somehow become a real, legitimate hero, not just some twenty-year-old dressed up in a padded, old hoodie wrapped in duct tape. He wanted to chase down members of the Syndicate, not just some petty cell phone thief on a college campus. If the government wanted its citizens to do the right thing and help stop crime, why would they make it illegal for most people to use their natural powers to help society?

Eren’s frustration with the world was put to the side as he finally got close enough to grab the thief by the hood of his hoodie. Their chase came to an abrupt halt and the thief was sweating and swearing profusely as he tried to wriggle out of Eren’s iron grip. 

“Hand over the phone.” Eren tried to mask his voice by lowering his pitch. He doubted that it was really necessary to disguise his identity, but perhaps it would intimidate the other college kid into behaving. 

“Whatever, this isn’t fucking worth being chased by a clown.” The punk roughly shoved the phone into Eren’s hand and ran off as soon as Eren’s grip loosened. Eren let out a sigh of relief and tried to regulate his breath as he began to walk back to where he last saw the girl who the phone belonged to. His muscles were sore, but they were healing quickly, so Eren broke into a sprint again to try and get back to the worried girl. 

He caught a lot of people’s eyes as he ran. Some people thought he was just a cosplayer, others just laughed. Eren tried to ignore the judgment as he just tried to do the right thing. As he reentered the physics building, he saw the girl walking out of her class looking sick with worry. Another girl had her arm wrapped around her shoulder and seemed to be trying to soothe her a little. 

Eren stopped running and walked up the stairs towards them. The blonde-haired, shorter girl noticed his bright red costume and her brows furrowed, she remembered that he was the one that chased after the thief, but she doubted Eren had managed to get her phone back. When Eren held the phone up and smiled at her, she carefully, but excitedly ran down the stairs to meet Eren in the middle. 

“Oh my god, thank you!” She threw her arms around Eren’s shoulders and squeezed him a little before taking her phone back out of his hand. “I thought I would never see this again.” Relief shimmered in her eyes as Eren looked back at the other girl at the top of the flight of stairs. He jogged his memory to try and remember her name, he vaguely remembered her from one of the mandatory math classes they had to take here. 

Oh right, Ymir. It’s hard to forget a name like that. Eren looked down at the shorter girl in front of him and assumed that this was the girlfriend that Ymir was always calling an angel and a goddess. As Krista went back to join her girlfriend, she waved goodbye to Eren and Ymir gave him a thankful nod before putting her arm back around Krista and walking off with her.

Eren felt incredibly proud as he tried to think of a triumphant one liner to say to himself. He wasn’t exactly a wordsmith, so nothing came to mind as he walked into the closest restroom to change out of his suit if you could even call it one. He pushed the door open and cringed at how loud the rusty hinges squealed. He glanced at the mirror and noticed that the duct tape was starting to peel again and he groaned loudly. Armin had fixed that just last night and he was going to be pissed when he saw that Eren had already destroyed his handy work. 

Eren took off his white gloves and unzipped his modified hoody and squished them into the bag that Armin sewed on the inside of the hoodie. Eren was wearing his normal clothes underneath and felt relief when the heat that had been trapped against his body had been finally released. He awkwardly tried to pull one pant leg off at a time without the fabric touching the disgusting bathroom floor.

He managed somehow and stuffed the clothing back into the bag and slung it over his shoulder. He wiped some sweat off his brow and left the bathroom. Without the bright red suit, Eren blended into the crowds easily and let himself breathe easily. He hadn’t displayed any of his powers, yet vigilantes were commonly arrested and accused of being unregistered. He couldn’t afford to be discovered as a vigilante.

Armin waited for him outside the physics building in his old beat up car. Their university was located in the middle of Trost, a large metropolitan city, so driving was a must to get around the campus. Rose University didn’t offer dorms, but many apartment buildings gave discounts to students. In order to save money, Armin and Eren roomed together and split the rent. It was a little bit awkward sometimes, but after Eren’s father abandoned him, they had been living together in the same house for years. They couldn’t really imagine living apart now. They were almost like brothers at this point. But their close knit bond didn’t mean Armin wasn’t one to point out Eren’s stupidity on occasion. 

They were halfway to their apartment when traffic picked up and Armin kept glancing at the rear-view mirror even though the car had barely moved in the last five minutes. Eren knew this meant that he wanted to talk about something. Eren knew it was going to be about his vigilantism, and while Eren hated it when Armin openly disapproved of it, he let Armin take a deep breath and turn to him. “I think you were a bit over the top today. I’m glad that you were able to return her phone, but you let half the campus know that there’s a bright red new vigilante. Maybe you should lay low for a while…”

“I didn’t show my powers,” Eren reassured him, “I just showed off my endurance and athleticism.”

Armin inched the car forward as traffic barely crawled along. “Some people might think those are your powers, Eren. Not everyone can run like that, and not everyone’s gonna just dress up in a costume and fight petty criminals.”

“I didn’t really fight him, I just intimidated him and I’ll send in a report to the campus police about him tonight.” While Eren wanted to believe that he alone could make a difference, he knew that he didn’t really have enough power to stop them. He wished he could take care of it all single-handedly, but he knew that only the campus security could legally punish the thief. 

“Eren, I just don’t want people to view you as a real vigilante.” Armin rubbed his brow as he turned down the radio a little. He wasn’t sure if the radio was starting to give him a headache, or if it was just dealing with his stubborn best friend.

“I am a real vigilante,” Eren insisted.

Armin really had to hold back a snicker. “Half of your costume consists of duct tape.”

“What’s your fucking point?”

“Eren, you know what will happen if people find out you have unregistered powers.” Armin got to his underlying point, catching Eren a little off guard with his blunt honesty.

Eren knew the fucking dangers, they had already discussed this for hours on end. Eren had already seen article after article, news story after news story of people being caught unregistered. At best, it left them financially ruined, at worst it was a life sentence. Despite that, Eren kept his hopes up, he had to. “Maybe the Corps will take me under their wing if that happens!”

“Eren, you shouldn’t ground your ‘life plans’ in maybes.” Armin was getting pretty fucking sick of the same fucking desperate excuses and ideas. None of them sounded probable and he really hoped Eren would grow out of the vigilante phase and focus on school and his future. He didn’t want to see Eren either abandon working towards his own personal future and he certainly didn’t want to see Eren end up in a coffin before the age of forty.

“It’s better than just letting these powers go to waste! I was born with abilities, why shouldn’t I use them to protect others?” Eren felt heat radiate through his body as his frustration grew. He was trying to do the right thing, why couldn’t Armin accept that?

“Because you need to protect yourself first!” Armin gripped the steering wheel tighter, his knuckles turning white, as he glared at the heavy traffic in front of them.

“Why should I protect myself when I can save other people?” Eren curled his fists in his lap and could almost feel fire flickering between his fingers. He needed to calm down, but he sure as fuck wasn’t going to stop arguing first. “I am only one person, but I could save so many others, even if it’s just protecting them from minor shitty-.”

“Because I can’t lose you!” His friend cut Eren off with a shout, before covering his mouth with one hand and looking away.

Eren’s eyes widened, “Armin…”

“You’re a brother to me, Eren,” Armin let out a shaky breath before turning to keep his eyes on the road. “I don’t really have anyone other than you.”

Guilt gripped Eren’s heart and his anger quickly subsided. He cooled off both literally and mentally and let out a sigh and nodded his head. He turned to look out the passenger window, not quite willing to try and look into Armin’s eyes. “I’ll try to be safer and stealthier from now on.”

“That’s all I can ask of you.” Armin glanced over at Eren, and furrowed his brows before looking back at the road and finally pulling into the parking garage next to their apartment complex. “I know how important this is to you, I won’t ask you to give this up, but for fuck’s sake you need to be safer.”

“I’ll try.” Eren unbuckled his seat belt and carefully opened his car door. The passenger door had the annoying habit of swinging all the way open and hitting whatever car was parked next to it, and when Eren stepped out of the car, he quickly checked to make sure that the door hadn’t hit the minivan next to them. He let out a sigh of relief and shut the door with a slam. It would never lock property if it wasn’t slammed.   
They really needed a new car, but Armin and his grandfather insisted that whatever extra money they have should be saved for their college funds or for saving up to register Eren. They often found themselves having to dig into that fund for rent money and to pay for food. Armin felt much guiltier about using that money than Eren, but Eren always tried to reassure him that it was fine. They needed to survive before all else.

They were both trying to juggle jobs and school work while dealing with Eren’s vigilante activity. Armin had asked Eren to possibly charge the people he helped a small fee, but Eren absolutely put his foot down at that. He never wanted this to be about the money, no matter how much they needed it. Luckily, Armin had been promoted at his retail job a few days ago so they would be getting a few extra bucks each week. It didn’t seem like much, but they both knew that it would help a lot in the long run.

They dropped their conversation as they stepped into the apartment building. They could risk talking about Eren being unregistered in the car, but they wouldn’t dare talk about it in rooms that were thin enough to hear a pin drop. Armin hated the fact that most of their arguing had to be done in the car, it left a lot of bad memories that surfaced in Armin’s mind whenever he put his hands on the wheel. 

Armin started to walk towards the elevator and Eren put one step on the stairs. They both gave each other a small smile as Armin stepped into the empty elevator. As soon as Armin hit the button for their floor, Eren started to dash up the stairs. Eren insisted that this was a form of training. If he was going to be a hero, he would have to be able to chase after villains making an escape with an elevator, so Eren thought that running like a maniac up four flights of stairs was well justified. Eren usually won these little “races” and would wait for Armin at the door. He had a key to get in, but he loved to see Armin step out of the elevator and shake his head and smile at Eren. 

“Looks like you beat me again,” Armin fished his keys out of his pocket and fumbled a little as he put the key into the lock.

“Better luck next time, Arm.” Eren grinned as he followed Armin into their tiny apartment and set his bag down by the door. He reached his arms towards the ceiling and groaned. Armin winced at all the pops and cracks Eren’s body made as he stretched, half the time it sounded like Eren straight up broke a bone or two whenever he did that.

“I’ve told you not to call me that,” Armin rolled his eyes and opened their fridge. “We’re running low on milk. I’ve still gotta finish a paper tonight. Would you mind going and getting the groceries for me?”

“Yeah, of course. Do you want me to grab some dinner too?” Eren asked, putting his hand on their apartment’s doorknob. 

“Just get me whatever looks good and cheap.” Armin shut the fridge door and sat down at his desk and pulled his laptop out of his backpack. Eren heard him rapidly typing away on the keyboard as he closed their apartment door behind himself. 

Eren ran back down the flights of stairs, nearly tripping over a couple of their neighbors on the way down. Some of them were startled by him, but many of them had grown used to Eren treating the building like his own personal gym. Eren still apologized to them though. 

Eren jogged out of the building and wove through the busy sidewalk outside, as he tried to make his way down to the convenience store a few blocks away. Trost was a densely packed city, which meant that even going a few blocks was an adventure in itself. Well, Eren saw it as an adventure, Armin saw it as a hassle. That usually meant that Eren was the one to go out and grab what they need. As Eren made his way through the sea of people, he tried to imagine this as yet another way to train for the future. He tried to imagine himself in a real suit, pushing through crowds of either civilians or henchmen, trying to get to his nemesis or trying to get to the doomsday device. 

He did his best to jog through the crowds without knocking people to the ground or getting yelled at. He was just barely successful and had almost tripped an old lady over on the way to the store. Eren stopped to make sure she was okay and apologized profusely before continuing his jog to the store.

Eren stepped into the store and waved at the cashier. Eren always saw the same guy working the register and wondered if his shifts somehow coincidentally lined up with Eren’s visits, or if the poor guy worked there all day. Eren both pitied and envied him. Eren wished he could find a job that he could keep for more than a week, but he certainly didn’t want to have to work all day while still being a college kid. 

Eren grabbed one of the plastic shopping baskets by the front door and headed toward the refrigerated section. There were only a few refrigerators in the convenience store, so Eren didn’t really have to spend a long time trying to pick out a jug of milk. He just grabbed the one with the latest expiration date and the cheapest price. 

He wondered if they were running low on bread and decided to just grab a loaf just in case. He glanced at some of the nicer, more expensive looking bread, but he grabbed the least expensive one. It was only cheaper by a few cents, but a few cents would add up over the years. Spending an extra thirty cents here would mean that he was another thirty cents away from the registry fee, and Eren didn’t want to imagine being even further from his goal. Part of himself, the reasonable part, told him to just give up on the idea of paying the thousands of dollars to register. Eren didn’t want to give up just yet though. Maybe he could win the lottery or get hired by a well-paying company, who knows.

Eren knew that Armin was probably in their apartment stressed as fuck over the vigilante and o his paper. Maybe some tea would make him feel better. Eren walked two aisles over to see the tiny little tea selection the store provided. There was another man looking at the teas, and Eren gave him some space as he tried to find Armin something. The other man seemed to be disappointed, perhaps angry even, at the lack of quality or variety in the tea. 

Eren tried to ignore him and tried to decide between Earl Grey or some Chamomile. He knew Armin preferred the taste of Chamomile, but he also knew Armin needed the caffeine of black tea. So, Eren went to reach for the box of Earl Grey just as the other man did. Their hands briefly touched and the other man quickly yanked his hand away, but it felt like the touch had lasted for hours.

Eren had always felt too warm. His powers were keeping him at a constant temperature that was hot enough to be considered a fever. Even when he played in the snow as a child, he still felt hot enough to start sweating. But the moment the other man’s hand brushed against his, Eren didn’t feel like he was melting. He felt cold for once in his life. He felt the way that people described early spring mornings or the way they talked about taking a refreshing sip of water after hours of labor. Eren felt like he just felt something that he had been deprived of all his life. And just like that, the feeling was gone. Eren looked at the other man and saw what almost looked like wonder in his eyes.

“I’m Eren.” Eren blushed and stuck out his hand to the other man. 

The other man’s brows furrowed as he tried to figure out what the hell just happened. He hesitantly took Eren’s hand, feeling warmth radiate through his body for the second time. They just held hands for a while, trying to process the foreign feeling, but eventually, the shorter man let go of Eren’s hand. 

“My name’s Levi.”


	2. Haven

The two stared at each other breathlessly for a while, both of them wanted to reach out and touch the stranger again, but neither wanted to push societal bounds and make the situation more awkward. A delicate pink blush spread across Levi’s pale skin, and even though it was barely there, Eren found himself already addicted to it. He promised himself that he would see it again. 

Levi’s icy, gunmetal eyes looked up at Eren. His brows furrowed as he tried to figure out who Eren was, or what Eren was. Levi immediately knew that Eren had abilities, no other human had touched him and felt like that. That blessed release of winter, it was a breath of spring in his frozen interior. Could you really blame Levi for getting hooked? The warmth was still pulsing in Levi’s fingertips, but it was fleeting fast. He wanted to reach out and touch Eren again, but Levi certainly wasn’t one to get handsy with people, let alone strangers. 

“So…” Eren’s voice trailed off as he ended their unofficial staring contest, “are you a student around here… or…”

“Yeah, I go to Rose.” Levi nodded and glanced down quickly at Eren’s hand. His own fingers twitched as he fought off the desire to grab Eren’s hand again. This was honestly fucking embarrassing, and Levi needed to get a hold of himself. 

“I do too!” Eren’s eyes lit up like a roaring summer bonfire. “Maybe we could have coffee together on campus!”

“I’m not that big into coffee,” Levi admitted, “but I wouldn’t mind getting some tea with you.”

Eren’s grin was more radiant than the sun as his heart leaped with joy. “So, it’s a date then?”

“… a date?” Levi raised a brow. He felt drawn to Eren, but he was surprised by the man’s forwardness. 

“Well, it doesn’t have to be a date! I mean, I just thought that… since we touched… and it was nice! And you just seem so… I don’t know-” Eren’s breathless, flustered rambling was cut short by Levi putting his hand on his shoulder. 

The touch didn’t affect them quite as much since the fabric of Eren’s shirt separated Levi’s palm from Eren’s skin, but it still soothed both of them. Eren felt the icy chill bloom in his shoulder, cooling and calming his nerves as he took a deep breath in. He let his eyes slip shut as he savored the touch. He never wanted to get used to this heavenly feeling.

Levi could feel heat seeping into his palm slowly reaching through his whole body. The delicious heat made Levi feel more alive than he had felt in years. “I do want it to be a date. I’m just surprised that you asked that like five minutes after meeting me.”

“Is it too soon?” An embarrassed blush took hold of Eren’s face.

Levi shook his head and squeezed Eren’s shoulder, letting another surge of ice pulse throughout Eren’s body before reluctantly letting go. “No, I’m just too awkward with this kind of shit to ask something like that.”

“Well,” Eren adjusted the shopping basket that was hanging off his elbow, “maybe I can be the forward one in the relationship and you can just tell me when to slow down.”

Levi pursed his lips considering Eren’s offer. “Well for starters, I wouldn’t call this a relationship just yet. Let’s go on that date first and then we can decide whether or not to continue this.”

Eren nodded and raised his hand to cup Levi’s cheek. “I’ve just never felt someone who felt so…”

Levi grabbed Eren’s wrist and gently pulled Eren’s hand away from his face. He wanted to reach out and feel Eren’s fiery heat too, but a convenience store was not the place for this. “I know. This is a first for me too.”

Eren seemed to pick up on the uncomfortable vibe Levi was giving off. “Why don’t we go pay for our stuff and maybe I could just walk you back to your apartment building.”

The sides of Levi’s mouth twitched up a little into a faint smile. “I’d like that.”

Eren smiled back and handed Levi the box of Earl Grey that he had been reaching for, before grabbing another one for himself and putting it in his basket. The two walked down the aisle towards the cashier. Eren let Levi get in line in front of him as the two stole glances from each other every couple of seconds. 

Once the elderly woman in front of Levi grabbed her receipt from the cashier, Levi started to put his items up on the counter. Levi wasn’t one to make small talk with cashiers, he knew that they were probably bored out of their minds and had heard the same shit from their customers all day. The same shit about the weather, the same shit about politics, the same shit about the Syndicate and the Corps, Levi didn’t want to annoy the man further. So, he just paid the money the cashier asked for and didn’t say a word. Perhaps he came off as anti-social, but Levi felt that there was no point in talking to them if there wasn’t a purpose to it. 

Eren, on the other hand, was absolutely beaming and chatting as he handed over his items to the cashier. Levi assumed that Eren must be a regular here since he seemed to know a lot about the cashier’s personal life. Eren talked about a bunch of stuff in such a short amount of time. He asked about the cashier’s boyfriend and if his cat was recovering well from her operation. Levi wished he wasn’t so fucking cold and had the people skills that Eren had.

The two seemed to want to talk more, but the small line forming behind Eren pushed their conversation to a close as Eren grabbed his receipt from the cashier and took his plastic bag full of groceries. Eren gave the cashier another brilliant smile before walking over to Levi and walking out of the convenience store with him and back into the ocean of people that flooded the sidewalk. 

Eren grabbed Levi’s hand, holding on tight as they pushed through the crowds of people towards Levi’s apartment. Eren felt drawn to the idea of letting his eyes slip shut while he held on to Levi, but that was never a promising idea when you were walking in the big city surrounded by endless crowds and eternal traffic. The ice surging through his veins felt blissful and euphoric as it lulled him into an unfamiliar feeling. Eren felt awed by the sheer power Levi radiated off just by holding his hand.

Levi kept glancing back at Eren, wondering why it felt like Eren had started to drag his feet. And then Levi started to feel it too. The fire igniting within him made Levi feel safe, made him feel like he could just rest the weight of his worries for now. Levi’s vision started to blur as he struggled to push through the crowds. The neon lights and the faces of the passersby started to shift into a hazy white as Levi just tried to get back to his apartment. 

While part of Levi was mentally shrieking about the dangerous position he was in and how it felt almost as if he was drugged, the majority of Levi felt quite at peace with the current situation. Levi felt Eren’s fires starting to consume him in a beautiful way as he started to bump into more and more people while trying to lead Eren down the street. 

As much as Levi loved this feeling and had felt that he had been robbed of it all his life, he knew this wasn’t right. Or at least this wasn’t the place to be feeling this shit. It took Levi every ounce of his willpower to let go of Eren's hand. The recovery was almost instant and Levi could see normally again as he started to feel deathly cold again. He continued walking down the street and looked back at Eren to make sure he hadn’t passed out from the cold.

Eren blinked his eyes open and tried to catch back up to Levi. The rational side of Eren was relieved that Levi had let go of him and he could resume functioning normally, but Eren mostly felt a little bit betrayed. Sure, the middle of the street might not be the place to lose himself with a man he had barely met ten minutes ago in a convenience store, but it felt so right to Eren. He could only pray that Levi would one day let Eren hug him. God, Eren couldn’t even imagine how amazing it would feel to be wrapped up in such a delicious chill.

Eren noticed Levi’s silent, concerned glances and picked up the pace to catch up to him. Eren walked behind Levi to try and not block the sidewalk any more than he already had. Eren took the time to look around and try and see if he could recognize the part of the city they were in. Eren had desperately tried to memorize every route and road in the city as a part of his “training”, but Eren couldn’t really seem to understand where they were.

It seemed that they were walking towards the wealthier side of Trost, but that didn’t make sense. If Levi was a college student, then surely, he wouldn’t be able to afford an apartment down here. Eren wasn’t even sure if he could afford to look at the apartments down here. Either Levi had some serious scholarship money or he had a rich family. 

Eren was starting to assume that Levi was born into money, and he wondered Levi was registered. While buying an expensive apartment was one thing, and saving up almost half a million dollars was another thing entirely, any rational person would rather get registered and live an easier life. Plus, Levi seemed like he was trying to be discreet with his powers. Eren noticed that Levi was visibly making the effort not to touch people as they made their way through the city. If he was registered, then why would he be so cautious about not letting other people touch his icy skin?

It seemed suspicious to Eren, but maybe Levi just had an issue about germs that he was willing to put aside so that he could feel Eren’s warmth. If that was the case, then Eren felt incredibly flattered. While Eren really wanted to hope for the best in Levi, he couldn’t help but shake the feeling that something seemed off about this situation. He couldn’t figure out what it was, but he knew that he needed to keep that in the back of his mind.

Perhaps it was simply because Levi was the only other person with abilities that he had met. Maybe it was because they were out in public and they couldn’t talk and explain what was going on between them. Maybe the cold was starting to go to his head again.

Levi took a sharp turn and stood under the awning of an apartment building and waited until Eren was standing next to him before pushing open the large glass entrance door. Eren’s jaw dropped as they stepped into the lobby. There was a fucking fountain in the middle of the lobby with a crystalline chandelier hanging elegantly above it. 

“Where did you get this kind of money?” Eren found the question spilling from his lips without a thought as he stared at the marble fish spewing water into the fountain.

Levi took a seat down in one of the leather couches by the entrance to rest after struggling through a crowd and motioned for Eren to join him. “I’ve inherited some from some relatives that have died over the years, but my uncle’s business pays for most of it.”

Eren happily sat down close to Levi, resisting the urge to take his hand again. It was just a few inches away from his own, it would be so easy to just get lost in that cold haven again. Eren snapped himself out of it. “What’s your uncle’s business?”

Levi’s brows furrowed and he looked away. “It’s… Well, it’s hard to explain.”

Not wanting to press the topic and make Levi more uncomfortable, Eren decided to move on to something else. As he looked around the luxurious lobby, he quickly realized that they hadn’t actually decided when their date was going to be. “Are you free this Thursday?”

Levi pursed his lips as he mentally checked through his plans for the week. “I don’t think so, why?”

“I was just hoping that we could have our date then, but that’s fine.”

“How about tomorrow?” Levi asked, “I’m free then.”

Eren’s brows raised a little. “Tomorrow?”

Levi simply shrugged and drummed his fingers on his knees, trying to ease his anxiety. “I know it’s a little bit sudden, but…”

“No, no!” Eren scrambled to reassure Levi. “I’d like that!”

“How about you meet me at noon in the café by the main library?” Levi offered, a slight blush bloomed across his cheeks. He let his hands pull away from his knees and rest next to Eren’s hand on the sofa.

“That sounds perfect.” Eren grinned and let his fingers brush against Levi’s hand. Eren let out a happy sigh as he felt Levi’s cooling sensation start to seep into his fingers, but that feeling quickly left him. 

Levi bolted up from the sofa. He held his hand close to his chest and looked away awkwardly. “Well, see you tomorrow…” 

As Levi turned to leave and head towards the elevator, Eren scrambled to get up after him. “Wait! Can I get your number?” Levi’s eyes widened and his blush deepened by a fraction. Eren could barely see it, but he still felt like it was an accomplishment. 

“Yeah, sure,” Levi replied and fished his phone out of his pocket. He unlocked it and handed it to Eren to put his number in it. 

Eren’s hands tremored slightly as he held Levi’s phone in his hands. His own phone was a barely functioning, older phone model. It was only about two stages past a flip phone, but Levi’s phone seemed as quick and sharp as its owner. Eren cautiously typed in his number, fearing that he would accidentally break it. There was a pretty good chance that phone was more valuable than all the money Eren had ever been able to save in his lifetime. Eren wondered if Levi knew just how well off he was.

When Eren was done, he gently handed the phone back to Levi, their fingers almost touching once more. “Alright, see you, Levi,” he smiled before starting to head to the door.

“Bye, Eren,” Levi called after him as Eren finally slipped out of his sight. 

Eren let out a shaky breath as he stepped back out onto the sidewalk. He ran a hand through his hair as he tried to process the last half hour a little bit more. He eventually came to the conclusion that, yes, he had actually met another person with abilities that seemed interested in him. And not only did his powers work well with Eren’s, but he seemed rich as all fuck. Eren wasn’t shallow, and he certainly wasn’t eagerly looking for a sugar daddy, but a rich boyfriend could help with some of his financial stress.

Eren continued walking down the street and wondered why Levi seemed to flinch away from his touch during the last few minutes. Eren feared that his heat was starting to hurt him. While Levi’s frost soothed him, what if he was starting to melt Levi or something? 

Eren wished that he could just openly talk to Levi about this without fear of getting reported. The two of them would have to try and arrange some sort of meeting place for them so that they weren’t overheard. Communication was the key to all stable relationships, and Eren wasn’t going to just keep stealing Levi’s chill without making sure Levi was comfortable with it. 

While there were cameras in the main library, there were a couple sections that seemed vacant every time Eren walked past them, perhaps he could whisper to Levi there and get away with it. It would be risky, but he’d rather run the risk of being possibly overheard than accidentally hurting Levi. Eren made a mental note to take Levi into the library after their date, he wanted to talk to Levi about this as soon as possible.

He also wanted to hold Levi again as soon as possible. Every fiber in his body felt like it was on fire as the last remnants of Levi’s chill started to leave his body. Eren swore that he felt even hotter now than he had before. He felt like he was melting without Levi and he wondered how he had managed to survive all these years like this. 

Eren couldn’t shake the feeling that he was forgetting something, but he couldn’t get his mind off of the raven beauty. There was something about him that was so alluring, so addicting. Eren could tell that there was strength behind Levi’s eyes, but something about him seemed delicate to Eren. Like a beautiful frozen pond, delicate and gentle on the surface, but a greater danger lay beneath the surface. Eren wondered if Levi would be the end of him.

Armin would probably laugh at Eren for being so all over the place with his feelings, but Eren couldn’t help it. Wait! That’s what Eren was forgetting, he was supposed to get Armin some dinner. Eren remembered that he had left their apartment to get some groceries as well and had completely gotten derailed by meeting Levi. 

Eren looked down at the bag in his hands and checked to make sure that he had grabbed all the groceries he needed. When he was satisfied with what he had bought, he let his mind consider what he wanted for dinner. He didn’t have much in his wallet, but he certainly didn’t want to eat more fast food. It tasted good, but it was a pain to run on. He doubted the mighty members of the Corps caught criminals on a diet of fries and milkshakes, but until healthier food was made more accessible to all socioeconomic groups, Eren would just have to go with the only option he could afford. 

Eren spotted one of Armin’s favorite fast food chains down the street and knew that Armin would probably love some comfort food while he was finishing up his paper. Eren let the flow of the busy sidewalk push him closer to the restaurant, if you could call it that. He stepped through the building’s open door and was hit with a wave of delicious fast food smell. 

Eren took his place in line and was able to quickly order two meals. He considered getting Armin a kid’s meal as a joke, but decided not to push his buttons right now. He knew his friend was stressed as all fuck right now, so now wasn’t the time. As soon as he paid the cashier and grabbed their bag of food, Eren hurried to leave, well aware that Armin was probably pretty hungry and wondering where he was. 

Since it was starting to get later in the evening, the crowds walking on the sidewalks were starting to grow sparser. Eren put the bag of fast food inside of the plastic bag he got from the convenience store to make it easier for him to move a little bit quicker. There wasn’t enough room in between people to try and jog down the side walk, but Eren was definitely trying to pick up the pace as he had walked pretty far to get Levi home.

The sky was starting to turn to a gorgeous orange as Eren made his way back to his apartment. It took him about fifteen minutes of walking to get back, and he didn’t want to take the time to savor the sunset. His stomach was growling and Armin’s hunger was probably distracting him at this point. Eren tightened his grip on the plastic bag before pushing his way into their apartment building and jogging up the stairs to their apartment. 

Eren went to grab his key from his pocket, but remembered that he had forgotten to grab it from his bag before he had left. He was so fucking lucky that he had Armin. He lightly knocked on the door and bounced on the balls of his feet while he waited for Armin to answer the door. When the door opened, Eren was greeted with a very agitated looking Armin.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Armin asked, taking the food that Eren handed to him.

“It’s a long story,” Eren shrugged as he stepped into the apartment.

Armin smiled a little as he realized that Eren got him his favorite food. “Well, you can tell me about it tomorrow, I still have a lot of work to get through.”

Eren nodded in understanding and kicked the apartment door shut behind him. He opened up their fridge and put the milk in before putting the new loaf of bread on their tiny kitchen’s counter. Eren smiled as he pulled the box of Earl Grey out of the bag and thought of Levi. He walked over to Armin’s desk and silently put the box of tea next to him.

Eren looked out of their window and watched the sunset over a horizon of skyscrapers. He felt awed as he finally took the time to appreciate it while eating his dinner. As he just stood still, with only the sound of Armin’s keyboard in the background, Eren’s day finally set in. The weight of his activities started resting upon his shoulders and began to drag his eyes down. 

After finishing his meager dinner, Eren brushed his teeth and hopped into some comfortable pants. He wished Armin a good night and crawled into bed. Armin only grunted in reply and stayed focused on his studies. The sounds of traffic outside and the rhythmic tapping of Armin’s typing worked as a lullaby for Eren and he felt himself slowly drifting off to sleep. 

In his dream, he was surrounded by darkness, walking around without a sense of direction. Eventually, Eren saw a lantern in the distance. It lit up the area around it and revealed that Eren was currently in a forest that was dusted in snow. The dim light barely lit up the snowflakes that were gently falling from the sky. Eren’s brows furrowed in confusion as he tried to understand why he was here. 

Eren desperately wished that the snow in his dream made him feel as cold as Levi’s embrace. But the snow in his dream was much like real snow, and simply melted as soon as it touched Eren and didn’t affect his temperature at all. It felt like such a cruel joke to taunt Eren once more with something he couldn’t physically feel.

Eren decided that he should just ignore the snow and just continue exploring. He bent down to pick up the lantern and take it with him. It was a dim light, but without it he would be walking in pure darkness. Eren’s eyes noticed a glint of metal in the snow and realized there was a dagger lying in the snow next to the lantern. It was a simple metal blade, nothing ornate about it, but Eren’s interest was piqued. 

He reached for the wooden handle and immediately felt pain shoot up his arm. Eren tried to let the blade slip from his hand, but his fingers were frozen to it. Eren frantically shook his hand as the snow around him started to come down harder and the wind picked up. The snow consumed all Eren saw as he awoke from his dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter was posted a little bit later than I had hoped. I was assembling furniture all weekend and didn't have time to write. The next chapter should be up sooner!  
> Please tell me what you think!


	3. Porcelain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren’s inner panic came to a terrifying silence when he heard the door to the café open and he took a deep breath before turning his head to see Levi walking towards him. Eren’s heart hammered in his chest as Levi got closer and closer. Eren glanced over at the chair across from him and bolted up to pull it out for Levi. He needed to make a damn good impression.

Eren’s eyes slowly forced their way open, fighting off the last tendrils of sleep. Eren stared at the ceiling above him, his eyes bleary and his body refusing to move. As sensation slowly returned throughout his body, Eren groaned in pain. This lumpy mattress was absolute murder on his back, and his pillow could barely support his head. 

Eren started to twitch his fingers and toes as he tried to get the rest of his body to respond. Once he was able to fully flex his digits, Eren started moving his limbs slowly. He slowly reached up to rub his eyes, silently yawning. He let his body lurch forward as he sat up in his miserable and worn bed. He let his eyes wander around the room, brows furrowing as he saw Armin asleep at their desk. 

Eren swung his legs over the side of his bed and forced himself to leave what little comfort his bed gave him. Eren’s body protested and cried out desperately for more sleep, but Eren simply could not give his body what it needed. Eren shuffled over to Armin and debated whether or not he should leave him there or wake him up. Armin really hated to be startled awake, but Eren doubted that he wanted to wake up to his face smashed into the keyboard. 

Eren gently grabbed Armin by the shoulder and rocked it back and forth until Armin jerked up in his chair. He quickly turned to look at Eren with furrowed brows and tired eyes. He took a silent moment to look around the room and realize where he was. He groaned, but thanked Eren for waking him. 

Luckily, Armin had a class later in the day so he could afford to get in a regular bed and get some better sleep than he had at the desk. Eren wasn’t so lucky. Normally, Eren was a morning person, but the lack of sleep made him want to escape modern society and sleep his life away. 

As soon as Armin hit his mattress, Eren could hear him snoring. It made Eren smile a little bit. Armin deserved the best sleep in the goddamn world after all the stress Eren put him through. Unfortunately, that shitty little bed would have to do for now.

Eren ran his hand through his hair and yawned loudly as he pushed the door to their bathroom. His morning breath was more disgusting than usual this morning, and Eren couldn’t help but wonder if that was because of his greasy dinner last night. It finally dawned upon Eren that he had forgotten to brush his teeth last night and had passed out before taking care of his hygiene. Eren shuddered in disgust as he grabbed his toothbrush. He spent five minutes brushing to try and make up for it. 

Eren was still half asleep when he stumbled into their confined kitchen. He grabbed a slice of bread and a jar of peanut butter, sitting down at their little table. Eren put both of his elbows on top of the table to try and prevent it from wobbling and irritating him. Armin said he had fixed it two days ago, but the table seemed to disagree. He tried to ignore the table shaking and took a bite out of his simple breakfast,humming in appreciation. 

Eren thoughts flickered back to the day before and he nearly choked on the peanut butter bread when he remembered that he had a date at noon. Eren fucking Yeager had a date. Eren pulled out his phone and started to panic when he saw that it was already eleven o'clock. His morning class was nearly over at this point, so he might as well just get ready for his date with Levi. 

Eren always tried to be present in class, but this professor didn’t make it mandatory, so Eren didn’t worry too much about missing one class every now and then. His professor was pretty chill and would probably send him the PowerPoint if Eren sent them an email asking for it. Eren made a mental note to remind himself to do that later. 

He finished up his meager breakfast quickly and downed it with a small cup of milk. He stood up from the table and stretched his arms over his head before grabbing his knife and his cup and walking them over to the sink. He left them in there, knowing that Armin would wash them when he got around to making his own breakfast. 

Eren took his lounge pants off and opened up his dresser to try and pick out some nice pants to wear. Would jeans be too casual? Would Eren’s only pair of formal black pants be too much? Just how snobbish and fancy was Levi? Eren wanted to make a good impression, but he certainly didn’t want Levi to think he was something more than he really was. Eren decided to just grab a pair of his nicer jeans.

He could finally feel himself starting to fully wake up as he zipped the pants up and pulled a pair of white socks over his feet. Eren grabbed a plain black button up shirt and looked in the mirror as he buttoned it up. He smiled as he saw his muscles push through the tighter fabric. Eren hoped that Levi was into muscles because Eren knew that was definitely a selling point that he could cash in on. Eren decided at the last minute to roll up his sleeves to give himself a little bit more of a casual look. 

Eren pushed his hair back and looked himself over in the mirror, checking to make sure that he looked presentable. Levi seemed really nice and Eren didn’t want to fuck this up. Plus, Eren wanted to feel that miraculous chill grip him once more. Eren swore that wasn’t the only reason why he was into Levi. It certainly did make Levi more unique in his eyes. He wasn’t like anyone else Eren had ever met. Eren couldn’t help but wonder if he was just as unique in Levi’s eyes. 

Eren sighed and prayed to whatever god was out there that this went well. His life was already shitty enough. It felt like Eren was always holding his breath, waiting for something good to happen. Eren felt himself constantly looking towards the future and was usually unable to fully be in the present because of it. He was always just waiting for a day when he could be financially stable. He longed for a day where he could just exist with his abilities without being labeled a threat or a monster. Eren could never let himself get comfortable at this time in his life.

Maybe Levi would change that. 

Eren knew that he shouldn’t put such lofty expectations on Levi, but his imagination had already taken over his mind. Eren wondered what it would be like to hold Levi close to him and just breathe without worry. He longed to be with Levi by the beach with all their problems behind them. He wanted to be done with school. He wanted to be registered. Eren’s heart told him that Levi was the answer. He knew he was probably setting himself up for heartache, but he hoped that his heart would mellow out in a few days. He had only met Levi yesterday after all.

Eren hoped that if this date went well then maybe he could hang out with Levi often. At the moment, Armin was really the only companionship he had. Eren appreciated Armin of course, but Eren could feel himself starting to get socially stunted. Having only one person to talk to put a lot of pressure on Armin to be there for him, and Eren didn’t want to stress him out even more than he already was. 

Eren took one last look in the mirror before pocketing his phone and heading towards the front door of their apartment. Eren could hear Armin shuffling around in his bed and glanced back to see Armin sitting up and rubbing his eyes. 

“You’re supposed to be getting some good sleep,” Eren whispered as he slowly walked back towards their beds.

Armin let out a broken yawn and shrugged tiredly. “I did get some good sleep.”

“You were out for like half an hour.” Eren tried to gently push Armin back down onto the bed, but Armin smacked Eren’s hand away. 

“Where are you going all dressed up?” Armin slowly blinked as he looked at Eren’s outfit choices. He usually looked like a mess, but Eren could clean up somewhat nicely when he wanted to. 

“I have a date,” Eren proudly said and gave a radiant smile.

Armin raised a brow and squinted his eyes in disbelief. “You have a date.” 

Eren laughed at Armin’s skepticism. “I know, right? His name is Levi, and I’m supposed to meet him in the café by the main library in half an hour.” 

Armin pushed himself out of bed and rubbed his eyes again. “Then you better start running to campus. Or I could drive you after I get some breakfast,” Armin offered as he started to shuffle towards the bathroom.

Eren considered it, but Armin had just woken up and it was a bit early to get irritated by driving on the congested streets. Eren had already expected Armin to be asleep by the time he left too. “I was going to sprint there...” Eren’s voice trailed off as he noticed his bag next to the front door. Eren knew that if he left his suit behind he would probably regret it, but would Levi be happy if he left their date early for whatever reason?

Armin noticed where Eren was staring and sighed. “Eren, don’t. You’ll end up ruining your date.”

“But what if I need it?” Eren argued back.

“You won’t unless Levi’s a supervillain in disguise, and even then, you shouldn’t be the one to fight a supervillain.” Armin rolled his eyes, wishing Eren put a little bit more faith into the campus security. They were there for a reason.

Eren felt offended on Levi’s behalf that Armin would suggest such a thing without knowing Levi. Well, Eren didn’t really know him either, but still. “What if someone tries to mug Levi? What if someone tries to rob the café?”

Armin nudged the bathroom door open and flicked on the light, grimacing at how bright it was. “Eren, this vigilante shit is starting to make you paranoid as all fuck.” Armin was really starting to worry at this point. He knew that there was nothing he could do to convince Eren to stop illegally fighting crime, but he wished Eren wouldn’t start to lose his mind over it.

Eren’s brows furrowed and his hands started to ball into fists as he felt himself start to get heated. “I’m paranoid because of this shitty world we live in, I’m just trying to help maintain order.”

“Eren, you can’t possibly save the entire world on your own while you’re still a goddamn college student,” Armin tried to talk some sense into his friend while he brushed through the knots in his hair. He really fucking wished he had gotten a chance to brush his hair before passing out last night. His hair was a fucking bird’s nest right now and he was having a miserable time trying to brush out the mess.

Eren folded his arms and let out a sharp breath through his nose. “But I can still save some people from needless violence,” Eren tried to reason as he felt flames start to dance on his fingertips. He didn’t want to get so angry with Armin, but why couldn’t he just fucking understand that Eren was pretty sure that he was in the right here?

Armin gave up on trying to fix his hair and deal with his friend’s dangerous obsession at the same time. “You know what? Fine, take your duct tape suit, I’m going back to bed.” He turned off the bathroom light and pushed past Eren. He landed face first onto his bed and let himself pass the fuck out again. 

Eren growled in irritation and shook his head as he grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. The run to campus would definitely help burn off his irritation a little. He certainly didn’t want to show up at his date with Levi like this. 

As frustrated as Eren was, he still shut their apartment door quietly as to not bother Armin any further. He needed some sleep after the long night he had. Eren let out a heavy breath to try and blow off some steam as he left their apartment and walked down their hallway. 

He wished that half of their conversations didn’t have to end like this. Eren knew the easiest solution to fix the problems in their friendship would simply be to give up fighting crime. But Eren didn’t want to put his own friendship above the safety and security of others. Who was he to put more value in a gentle conversation with his friend, rather than the greater good of the strangers that passed by him every day? 

Eren tried to push that out of his mind as he started to jog down the stairs. He shouldn’t be thinking about all this before a date. He needed to get to a better place mentally. Eren let his mind wander away from the scorching desert of anxiety that surrounded his abilities. He dreamed of what it would be like to rest in the gentle frost of Levi’s gaze. To hold his porcelain skin close to him and know that all fires can be tamed. To know that the heat of his stress won’t eat him alive.

Eren prayed that Levi wanted a serious relationship too. Eren couldn’t even begin to think about what he would do if Levi just wanted someone to fuck around with for a week tops. He could feel himself starting to get too addicted to Levi’s powers, but he just couldn’t help himself. Levi’s touch alone felt like it healed the scalding hot pain that bubbled inside his chest. Eren knew better than to believe in soulmates, but Levi’s own powers were perfectly balanced with his own. 

He wished there was a safe place where Eren could ask Levi if he felt the same. 

Eren was glad that he wasn’t running through the streets earlier in the morning while other people were fighting to get to work on time. He was starting to crouch in on the lunchtime rush, but it was still an easier amount of people to push past as he made his way towards the University. 

Eren took a sharp breath of fresh air, well, as fresh as it could be in the city, and picked up the pace. Eren would prefer to be there before Levi so he could have some time to straighten his hair in the bathroom and pick out a nice table for the two of them. He was making good time, but he had no idea just how punctual Levi could be. He seemed like the type to arrive incredibly early for things and then unintendedly make the other party feel like they were incredibly late. But then again, Eren was basing that off of what little he knew about Levi. He was so excited to get to know Levi more that he couldn’t help but try to guess his personality before he even really knew what it was. 

Eren just hoped that Levi didn’t turn out to be a major, cold hearted asshole. He had already made pretty grand expectations for the man he had met less than a day ago. Eren imagined that he was a strong, charming, well-spoken man whose tongue was as silver as his eyes. Although, Eren should have known better considering how tense and nervous Levi had seemed the day before. He couldn’t help but want to see Levi almost like a fairytale prince.

He finally made his way onto the campus and hauled ass towards the little café. The café was fairly large since it was right next to the largest library on campus, but it was still peaceful and quiet. It was one of Eren’s favorite places to just relax whenever he could. Sometimes they would even let students perform music there some nights. 

Eren pushed through the café’s door and felt the aroma of ground coffee beans overwhelm his nose. He would probably be a bigger fan of it if the coffee wasn’t so damn expensive. Eren usually stuck to tea because it was usually cheaper and it didn’t give him headaches like coffee tended to. 

As Eren’s eyes adjusted to the dimmer light inside the building, he made his way towards the bathroom in the back. He pushed the door open and nearly hit someone while they were trying to exit. Eren fumbled out an apology and let them pass before pushing the door open again and walking towards the sink. He splashed some lukewarm water on his face in a pathetic attempt to cool off his face. He felt as red as a ripe cherry as his nervous blush grew in intensity. 

He was really here. He was really on a date with someone who legitimately seemed interested in him. Even if Levi didn’t live up to the impossibly high expectations Eren might have placed on him, Eren would still be happy to be in a relationship with him. It seemed kind of selfish to be initially attracted to someone because of their abilities, but Eren couldn’t get that cold feeling out of his mind no matter how hard he tried. 

Eren ran a hand through his hair and checked himself over to make sure that he still looked presentable, before walking back out into the café. He scanned the mostly vacant tables to make sure that Levi hadn’t already arrived before choosing a cleaner looking table that was next to a window. Eren sat down in the surprisingly comfy wooden chair and looked around the café and let out an anxious breath through his nose. 

What if Levi didn’t want to sit at a table by the window? What if Levi changed his mind and decided not to show up? What if Levi would rather sit at a table that had a red flower in the vase instead of the white one at this table? What if Levi thought Eren’s outfit was a terrible choice and just dumped him right there? What if-

Eren’s inner panic came to a terrifying silence when he heard the door to the café open and he took a deep breath before turning his head to see Levi walking towards him. Eren’s heart hammered in his chest as Levi got closer and closer. Eren glanced over at the chair across from him and bolted up to pull it out for Levi. He needed to make a damn good impression. 

One of Levi’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at Eren’s gentlemanly behavior, but it certainly wasn’t unappreciated. Eren awkwardly gestured to the chair and Levi nodded in appreciation as he sat down. Eren stood there for a brief second unsure of what to do before deciding to just sit back down in his own chair and put his bag on the ground next to him. 

Eren really wanted to make eye contact with Levi right now, but he couldn’t think of a single smooth thing to say. Eren wished he had thought of some decent pickup lines on the way over, rather than just dream about Levi being some lover straight out of a fairytale. And if Levi’s leg twitching under the table was anything to go by, Levi felt just as awkward right now.  
Dates were far out of Levi’s comfort zone, but he wanted to try for Eren. He wanted to try and get to know the man who had the power to melt his frozen exterior. Levi tried to meet Eren’s eyes and he tried to end the deafening silence between them, but he could only let his eyes linger on the small daisy in the flower vase. 

Levi reached out to touch the soft petals, longing for a day where he could lay in a spring field and feel the heat of the sun on his skin while he felt the breeze in his hair. The instant his fingertip reached out to touch the delicate petal, it hardened as a small layer of frost spread across the surface. Levi quickly retracted his hand and mentally berated himself for believing that things would be different just because Eren was there. 

Eren finally worked up the courage to talk to Levi and he cleared his throat to get Levi’s attention. Levi’s eyes snapped up and Eren noticed a delicate pink blush spread across his face. It gave him hope that maybe this date could work out after all. 

Eren smiled and gestured to the counter. “I’m going to go order for us, what would you like to drink?”

“Normally, I’d get some Earl Grey, but the Earl Grey here is shit. I think their green tea is pretty good,” Levi admitted as he tried to stop his leg from bouncing underneath the table.

“Green tea it is then.” Eren smiled as he stood up from the table and headed towards the counter. 

Levi watched him leave and let himself look at Eren’s ass while he stood in line. It was a nice ass. Levi could definitely let himself appreciate it while Eren bounced on his toes impatiently for their tea to be prepared. Levi tore his eyes away from his ass in time to notice Eren looking through his wallet to try and find cash to pay the cashier with. Fuck, Levi should have been the one to go up. He pulled out his own wallet and took out a twenty to repay Eren with.

Eren walked back to their table with their teas in hand. Levi almost told him to slow down and walk more cautiously while carrying hot beverages, but Levi realized that Eren probably wouldn’t get burned if he accidentally spilled it all over himself. It would still make the date a bit tenser though. 

Eren handed Levi’s tea over and Levi took it gratefully, he briefly felt the heat of the mug on his fingertips before his abilities started to freeze the near boiling water. Levi sighed in frustration as Eren sat down and took a sip of his own drink. 

Levi pursed his lips as he worked up the courage to ask Eren for a favor. “Could you, uh…”

“Yeah?” Eren looked up, eager to help Levi with whatever he needed. 

“My tea tends to get cold because, you know…” Levi wouldn’t dare mention his abilities in public, but he really hoped Eren would take a hint and notice that his tea was starting to become a solid piece of ice. 

Eren blinked in shock and smiled. “Oh yeah, of course!” Eren took the mug in his hands and gently blew across the surface, heating it up. It took Eren longer to heat it back up than it took for Levi to freeze it, but Eren didn’t mind helping Levi out throughout their date. 

Levi gave Eren a small smile in return when he took a sip of the liquid tea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up since I'm getting teeth pulled next week. I'm not sure how well I'd be able to write while on painkillers. I'm assuming it's gonna be a bit of a disaster.   
> I'll try to write it all ahead of time and have it scheduled to be posted, but I can't promise anything.


	4. Noted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren let his mind wander around, desperately trying to figure out what to say to someone like Levi. All his preconceived beliefs about Levi being like a fairy tale prince started to crumble and Eren realized that he knew nothing about him.

Eren felt like such a fucking idiot as he let himself fall face first onto his lumpy, shitty bed. God fucking dammit. Why the fuck did he fucking ditch Levi in the café over some stupid lead. He thought he had seen someone about to get mugged, but it just turned out to be some friends roughhousing in an alleyway. Eren had ran out of the café without explaining anything to Levi just to interrupt some friends trying to have a bonding moment.

Fuck, Levi probably hated him right now. Why the fuck did he try to put his vigilante hobby over the possibility of continuing a relationship with someone like Levi. There was no way Levi would ever consider going on another date with him. He would probably end up alone forever. 

Levi would probably be the only person Eren would ever meet that had abilities like that. There was no way he would ever feel that sweet chill seeps through his skin ever again. There was no way Eren would ever feel normal again. He lost his chance at feeling like a cold spring morning, he lost his chance at feeling calm, cool, and collected. 

Eren didn’t want to talk to Levi right now, he might as well just try to forget him. Levi would never want to see him again, Eren was sure of it. There was no way Eren would ever find someone who actually understood him and his vigilante work. Any lover he would try to take would eventually leave him because he would always put others before his own lover. Was that really selfish of him?

Eren didn’t think so, but he doubted anyone else would understand. He might as well text Levi an apology and never speak to him again. Eren groaned and tried to fish his phone out of his pocket, but his arm didn’t want to move more than it had to. He just felt as heavy as a stone in his bed as he lay there, wondering where his life was gonna go.

Would he be a vigilante all his life? Would he end up dying in an alley trying to stop a murder? Eren started to have some serious doubts about all of this and almost wanted to puke. He was questioning the very pursuit of justice that he had been trying to fight for since he was a child. Eren was born to do this. He was given these powers for a reason. What was he going to do with them? Just sit on his hands and shrug when he saw people robbed and attacked every day? Would he just sit there and let people be killed just for existing and let the cops handle it?

The justice system was skewed, it wasn’t just. The rich could commit crimes and the cops didn’t stop them. Cops had grown apathetic towards the plea of those in legitimate need. What did they even do anymore besides trying to pretend that they served the people and not the government? 

The only people Eren could trust to dispense real justice was the Corps. They didn’t really belong to any nation, they didn’t fight for all people. Some argued that they were just as crooked since they only fought against larger issues and “ignored” the issues that poorer communities faced. Eren knew that wasn’t true, he knew that they could only target a few villains at a time. It’s not like they would favor the rich too, right? 

All members of the Corps had to be registered which automatically meant that they had to have a lot of wealth. These days, registration could cost anywhere from three hundred thousand to two and a half million depending on how volatile one’s abilities were. 

Eren hadn’t told Armin the full extent of his powers and tried to let him believe that it would only cost a couple thousand dollars. Unfortunately, Eren knew his full powers definitely put him on the costlier side of things, but Armin didn’t need to worry about that right now. When they finally made it and got amazing jobs and shit, there would be nothing to worry about. They could pay off his registry fines and the subsequent concealment and obstruction fines and not have to worry about being bankrupt. For all Eren knew, perhaps he wouldn’t even have to pay that.

There had been three times in the past where the Corps paid off someone’s registry fines so that they could join them. They had strong abilities that the Corps knew would be necessary in order to fight off the real evils that resided in this world. Eren knew he could help them, Eren knew he was necessary, he just didn’t know how to let the world know without getting arrested and potentially put down for it. 

Eren hated it when people talked about returning to “the good old days” it usually meant that they were a bigoted old person who wanted to say horribly racist and sexist shit without getting called out for it. And yet, Eren wanted the world to remember when those with abilities weren’t seen as menaces, when it wasn’t called a disease by uninformed people. Eren wasn’t even alive back then, but God, did he yearn for it.

Eren knew he probably wouldn’t see a day like that in his lifetime, but he wished for it regardless. 

Eren wanted so badly to vent about it, but he had no one except Armin to vent to. Armin didn’t deserve to get his ear talked off by Eren complaining about the same shit over and over again.

“Politicians don’t actually care about safety, they just want to stuff their pockets!” 

“If politicians cared about the safety of the general public, they wouldn’t make it so hard to get registered!”

“So many people are unregistered because of the insanely high registration rates! They estimate only ten percent of my community is registered!”

Armin had heard it all before, time after time. Eren always shouted about it while they were driving in the city. It was nice to just blow off some hot steam, literally, while knowing he was next to someone that he could talk freely too. 

Armin used to reply to him, but Eren would start to argue back, even if Armin was agreeing with him. He eventually learned that Eren just needed to scream to get some stress out, Armin would be lying if he didn’t feel the same way. It wasn’t like there was anywhere in the city they could go and just start shrieking about something without getting the cops called on them for a noise complaint.

Eren pulled out his phone and pulled up Levi’s number and just stared at it. Was he really going to text Levi back? If he didn’t he would look like an asshole, but a forgettable one. If he tried to apologize he would look like a goddamn fool that Levi would probably be telling stories about at dinner parties for years. 

He sighed and knew that the only way to attempt to fix this would be to text Levi back. Eren let his mind wander around, desperately trying to figure out what to say to someone like Levi. All his preconceived beliefs about Levi being like a fairy tale prince started to crumble and Eren realized that he knew nothing about him. He knew that Levi’s touch alone could momentarily cure him of his heated temper, but he had no idea if Levi was a forgiving person or if he was cold hearted. Levi seemed nice, a little bit quiet and unsure maybe, but he seemed nice. And surely, Levi would understand Eren more than a person without powers, right? 

Eren finally let his fingers align themselves on the phone’s keyboard and started to type up an apology to Levi. His first draft told Levi everything about his vigilante identity, but Eren deleted all of that. He didn’t want to try and make him sound like the victim, and he didn’t want to awkwardly overshare. His second attempt sounded like it was merely a formality and that Eren didn’t really care. 

His phone fell out of Eren’s hand and onto the bed as he reclined back a little and stared up at the ceiling. Maybe he should just head to his class a little early and figure it out on the way back. Eren did some of his best thinking while walking. 

He rubbed his hands on his tired face before using them to push himself off the bed and into a sitting position. He swung his legs over the bed and stood up to stretch. He considered changing out of the clothes that he had worn to the date, but Eren felt too mentally preoccupied to find a really important reason as to why he should do that. It would just waste his time. 

It might help relieve his mind and help him forget about the date without the physical reminder of it on his body, but Eren knew it wouldn’t be leaving his mind for a while. Eren wasn’t sure if he could ever forget this. Levi was the first person he had ever really been interested in, how could he just forget him.

Eren groaned and picked his backpack off the floor and slung it over his shoulder before slipping his feet into his shoes. He awkwardly shuffled to the door in them until his feet slipped in properly. Armin would tell him to just untie them and put them on like a normal human being, but in Eren’s opinion, that was too easy. Eren was a busy guy after all.

Before he stepped out of the apartment, Eren grabbed his suit bag and stuffed it into his backpack. If he could leave a date early for the pursuit of justice, he could leave class early too. Eren zipped his bag shut, grasped the doorknob, and swung the door open. He patted his pocket to make sure he was carrying a key to the apartment before letting the door shut behind him. He had been locked out before. Armin laughed for the first five minutes, and then wouldn’t stop reminding him to carry keys for an entire month.

Eren was so lucky to have a friend like him. 

A small smile danced across Eren’s face as he jogged down the stairs of the apartment complex. During the daytime, he tried to be loud while going down the stairs to alert people and to try and avoid accidents on the stairs. His neighbors had, for the most part, gotten used to him and knew to step to the side when it sounded like an elephant was running down the stairs. 

At night, Eren tried to be courteous to those who might be sleeping and could run down the steps in relative silence. Eren knew he needed to keep training if he wanted to be perfectly silent, but Eren was pretty proud of how quiet and fast he could go sometimes. A supervillain wouldn’t hear him coming. 

Eren let his feet smack against the concrete as he turned the corner to go down the last flight of stairs. A man was leaning against the railing, already expecting Eren to run past him. Eren smiled and waved to him as he passed by. If he was going to be a potential pain to the other people in the building, he might as well be a friendly one. 

Eren kept jogging through the lobby and dodged through some of the people that were heading towards the elevators. He pushed the glass front doors open and walked out into the sunshine. The glare hurt his eyes for a moment as his eyes adjusted to the bright summer day. From the way that other people were sweating and hiding under awnings and umbrellas, Eren could tell that it was probably a scorching, sweltering day, but Eren couldn’t physically tell that. 

Today felt just as hellishly hot as any other day. 

Eren wondered if Levi could feel the heat from the sun.

Fuck, Eren wanted to slap himself for making himself think of the gorgeous man. Levi was a breath of refreshing cold air in his life and Eren knew that he wouldn’t be able to get Levi out of his mind soon. He still needed to try though. 

Eren continued down his usual route towards Rose, going with the flow of the crowds around him. He wished that he could just run all the way there and let his mind run blank, but he had to pay mind to all the people around him. He couldn’t just let his mind wander while there were cars and trucks and civilians surrounding him on all sides. If he accidentally got one of them killed just because he wanted to run to class, what kind of hero would he be? 

Eren knew he needed to obey almost every law. Anti-vigilante laws didn’t matter to him, but for fuck sakes he was going to cross at a crosswalk. He didn’t want any truck to try and swerve out of his way and accidentally strike someone else. That would weigh down his conscience for the rest of his life. 

If he accidentally got someone killed and was discovered to be unregistered, he would be giving all other unregistered people a bad name. Society already thought they were the scum of the earth and just plotting the downfall of civilization just by existing. There were already enough media outlets claiming that unregistered abilities were the direct cause for the majority of crime in the world. Eren didn’t want to add to any of that.

Eren knew the majority of unregistered people were normal people trying to make a living and trying to get by. People with abilities worked in office spaces, they worked in supermarkets, they raised families. They weren’t any different than people without abilities. 

Eren blamed hysteria, propaganda, and mostly the Syndicate for all the harsh laws that trapped most powered people into dismal, quiet lives. The Syndicate promised those with unregistered powers that the only way to get justice for their cruel treatment was to fight back against those in power. Eren would be lying if he said that he never wanted to yell and scream at the lawmakers that it simply wasn’t fair, but Eren would never attack those people. Eren would never resort to crime to bring about justice. Just ignore the fact that being a vigilante was illegal. 

Eren was a good person, he knew the Syndicate was evil beyond words. They preyed upon the scared, they put weapons in the hands of the hesitant, and they taught peaceful people to fight. Not forty years ago, the Syndicate would only strike back against the anti-power legislations and authorities that supported it. These days, the Syndicate was responsible for nearly every attack against the Corps and against humanity. 

So instead of trying to lower the registering fees and allowing more people to exist without fear of unjust imprisonment, the lawmakers decided to make it even harder to register. The estimated members of the Syndicate nearly doubled that year. It was nearly impossible for people to get registered. The Corps had the power to waive registration if they saw fit, but that had only been documented once. 

But Eren held tightly to his hope and knew that there was a chance for him. He could be the one in a billion people to be selected. Eren knew he was more than capable of joining their ranks. His powers were higher on the scale and he had trained his physical body as well. He wouldn’t need to rely solely on his powers in a fight. 

Eren wanted to tell Armin about his hope that the Corps would take him under their wings of freedom, but Armin would call him a fool. Anyone with an ounce of reason knew that the odds were slim to none, but Eren didn’t want to hear about the odds. He could be a fool as much as he wanted to be one. If he wanted to believe that it wasn’t a shot in the dark, then dammit, he was going to keep holding on and keep his hopes up. Good things happened to good people.

Eren reached the campus before he even realized it, and quickly jogged through the campus to get to the mathematics building. Eren kind of liked math. It was hard, but there was a flow in it that Eren could feel and latch on to. He was a quick learner and tended to grasp problems quicker than most. He wasn’t majoring in mathematics, but it was a required class for his major, so Eren had to go. 

It was a rather boring class, but Eren liked the Professor enough and usually sat in the back and took minimal notes. Sometimes he would doodle in the sidebar of his journal, sometimes he would leave class early to go around campus on patrol, other times he just didn’t even show up. Eren expected today to be a lazy day, so maybe he could just sit in the back and write out some possible apologies to text to Levi. So long as he could hear his Professor, he could usually learn the material. 

Armin wasn’t quite as absorbent as he was though, Armin usually had to take pages of notes and diligently pay attention. But it paid out for Armin in the end. His work ethic is what made his grade. Armin never turned in an assignment late, he never got less than a perfect on tests, he was the best person to have a group project with. 

Eren’s grades were alright, but Armin still had to push him to do his homework or to study. Armin would remind him that they simply couldn’t afford to not succeed in their classes. Armin would tell him that doing well in school was their ticket up, doing well meant good jobs. Maybe Eren had his eyes too set firmly on being a member of the Corps to really see that though. Eren was aware of the high unemployment, Eren knew highly qualified college graduates would often end up in dead-end jobs in retail. Eren let Armin focus on his own ticket to a slim chance at success, Eren focused on his own. 

As Eren walked into the lecture hall, his eyes scanned the handful of students that had bothered to show up for class. Since it wasn’t mandatory, half the class didn’t bother to show up. The other half came in periodically, so Eren had grown to recognize a few faces in the class, but sometimes a new face would join the crowd and Eren wouldn’t question it. 

He assumed that he would just walk to the back of the room, drop his bag down and just sit in his unassigned assigned seat. He showed up to class most of the time, so that seat was his. But when Eren’s eyes scanned the room as he stepped in the doorway, his breath froze in his throat. Levi was sitting in the second row from the back, hunched over the desk typing away furiously on his laptop. 

There was no way in hell Eren could face Levi right now. A text was something else entirely. If Eren tried to apologize in person, Levi might slap him for how fucking rude he was. Eren felt he deserved that, but he still didn’t want to accept that fate. He could just try to take a few steps backward and come back to class another day and hope that Levi wasn’t there again. 

“Hey, Eren!” Professor Zoe waved as they noticed him standing stiffly in the doorway. Eren panicked as he felt a few people lift their eyes towards the door. 

Eren didn’t even look in Levi’s direction, praying that Levi was too engrossed in his work. But Eren heard Levi’s frantic typing come to a sudden halt, and Eren could almost feel a chill wash over him. Well, Eren didn’t really have a choice anymore. He nodded towards his Professor and walked through the hall and over to the seats. His shoes felt like they were full of lead as he walked towards Levi.

He dropped his backpack next to Levi’s seat and sat down next to him. If Levi wanted him to leave, he would, but Eren needed to apologize first. Eren could feel Levi staring at him as he sat down. Eren didn’t bother to take out any supplies, just in case he had to get back up and move again. Eren took a sharp breath through his nose and ran a hand through his hair before turning to look at Levi.

Just as he expected, Levi was staring right at him. Those piercing silver eyes were hard to read, but Eren couldn’t see pure raging hatred in them. He hoped that was a good enough sign. “Levi, I just want to say-”

“It’s fine,” Levi cut him off and let his eyes wander back towards his laptop. He shut it before Eren could possibly get a real look at what he was working on. Eren opened his mouth to say something, but Levi sighed and looked down at his fingertips. His skin looked like it had a blue tint to it as his body grew colder. “No, I get it. I really do.”

Eren knew exactly what Levi was thinking in that moment. “It’s not about that!” Eren shook his head and took Levi’s hand before thinking. Levi’s eyes widened and just stared down at their joined hands before letting himself relax a little as Eren’s warmth seeped into him.

“We can talk about this later. We’ll disrupt the lecture.” Levi whispered and opened his laptop again, quickly clicking off of what looked like a document of some sort and opening up some notes. Eren pulled out his journal and put it up on the table next to Levi’s laptop and got comfortable in his seat as Professor Zoe began their lecture. Neither mentioned the fact that they hadn't let go of each other's hands.

Eren struggled to write with his left hand, but the challenge was welcomed as Levi’s calming chill took hold of his right hand. He could easily accept a day of messy notes in exchange for being closer to Levi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! I had my wisdom teeth removed so I couldn't write for a few days


	5. Hazard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi didn’t say anything, but just stared at Eren as he left out the back door of the lecture hall. He tried to focus on the lecture, but he kept glancing back at the door wondering when Eren was going to get back.

Eren left the lecture hall with a smile splitting his face as he slung his bag over his shoulder and broke out into a sprint. His tired and worn sneakers squeaked as they hit the floor while Eren ran to the southwest staircase. He was tempted to just jump over the banister in excitement, but he decided to be a normal person and run down the stairs this time. Well, mostly normal, he thought as he nearly ran into four other students. 

He awkwardly yelled out some apologies to them as he barely looked back to make sure they were okay. It wasn’t that Eren didn’t care, but his heart was beating louder than a kettle drum. He felt electricity under his skin and he felt alive. 

Spending time with Levi was starting to become intoxicating to him. Eren felt a rush whenever he touched that pale, frozen skin. It was addictive. It was a relief stronger than any pain medication Eren had ever taken before. Eren was starting to wonder if he could live his life without feeling such blissful ice again. 

Levi had occasionally let go of Eren’s hand during the lecture, just to make sure they didn’t get too lost in their own little world of fire and ice. Eren understood why he did it, but he hated it each and every time. He knew Levi wasn’t doing it to hurt him, but the intense wave of heat that threatened to smother Eren whenever Levi’s hand drifted to far away from him, hurt more than Eren would like to admit. It felt like the pain only grew with each passing second together. 

Maybe they were launching themselves into this too quickly. Maybe if they continued like this there would come a point where they could not physically live without each other. As horrible as it was to wish for that kind of extreme, Eren liked the idea. He didn’t want to trap Levi in a relationship like that, but Eren could easily see himself living with Levi and waking up in his frozen embrace every morning.

Eren felt his face heating up and tried to repress any thoughts that followed down the same path. He hadn’t even known Levi for a full week. It wasn’t the best idea to start imaging having lazy morning sex and moving in with him just yet. Their relationship was just starting to bloom and Eren didn’t want to overwhelm Levi too quickly. 

Eren couldn’t let all of his thoughts of Levi go, no matter how he tried. He ran across the university’s campus and as his romantic thoughts began to calm slightly him, his doubts surged to the front of his mind. 

He had barely spoken to Levi about their relationship. Did he mean as much to Levi as Levi meant to him? Did Levi see this as a serious thing or was this more casual?Was he attractive to Levi? Did Levi just want him for his heat?  
Eren felt sweat starting to form on his brow as he came to a stop at the street corner at the edge of the campus. He stared at the cars speeding past him, creating a rainbow of fleeting colors. He took a moment to try and ease his heart a little and took some deep breaths as he waited for the light to change. He leaned against the filthy pole and used the back of his hand to wipe the sweat from his face.

He fucking hated sweating. For most people, it helped to cool them off a little while they were working or exercising or whatever. Did it help cool Eren off though? Of course not. It just made him smell disgusting and repulsive. He felt filthy and sticky as the light changed and Eren walked out into the crosswalk. 

He grumbled to himself about his situation while still paying attention to his surroundings. He had planned to just walk to the other side of the road, but when a car ran a red light and threatened to run him over, Eren bolted to the safety of the other side walk. When they had first moved here, events like that had been horrifying and would haunt Armin and Eren for weeks afterwards. Now, it just seemed like a symptom of living in the city. 

No one in this damn city seemed to give a shit about driving safely and making sure that you didn’t run over pedestrians. Everyone was always busy and always running late. And of course, that meant that everyone was magically allowed to run as many red lights they wanted, right? Eren rolled his eyes and shoved his hands into his hoodie’s pockets. 

Eren loved this city and the memories he’s made here, but he still felt the urge to move away. He didn’t know where he wanted to go, or if there was a place that would truly accept him. All that he knew was that this wasn’t the place he wanted to be in the long run. There were plenty of reasons to stay, but so, so many reasons to leave.

But there wasn’t a damn thing Eren could do about that now. He was trapped like a bug under a cup in this rat infested metropolitan city. But it was his rat infested metropolitan city, so he should try to make the best of it.

At least he had Levi here with him. If he had never come here, then he may never have met someone like Levi. Eren legitimately believed that his own future lied with Levi and that whatever chances he had at joining the Corps might be helped by having Levi as a friend. Or well, more than a friend, a lover. Levi seemed to be rich, so there was a great chance that he was registered. Maybe he had other super powered friends, maybe he even knew people in the Corps. Maybe Levi could get Eren into a Corps party or something. Large groups of super heroes have parties, right? Probably. And after that party Eren would have made an impression on all of his heroes and they would let him join them.  
It was a solid plan, but Eren had faith in it. No matter how many maybes stood in his way, he was going to reach his end goal. There wasn’t a force on this earth that could stop him. 

The thought lifted his spirits a little and he started jogging down the streets again. He dodged around other pedestrians that were just trying to get home from work or trying to just get some dinner. Eren looked up at the sky and smiled as he saw red streaks in the sky indicating that the sun was going to set soon. He quickened his pace with the desire to get back to his apartment to watch the sun set. 

They might have a shitty ass apartment, but it was one of the only apartment buildings with an unobstructed view of the sun setting. Eren couldn’t explain why, but the sun setting just seemed important to him. Maybe it was because he used to watch the sunset with his mother while she was still alive. Eren remembered whining and asking why they had to just sit there and stare at nothing. 

His mother would simply chuckle and tell him that they were watching the beauty of the world around them. Eren remembered fidgeting in her lap and trying to get up so he could play with the fireflies flickering in the grass. He knew it hurt his mom’s feelings that he didn’t want to sit with her, but he was, like, five. At the time, he didn’t really understand the concept of hurting others and he mostly wanted to just have fun as a kid. But that didn’t stop Eren from regretting missing out on that bonding time while he still had it. 

He made an unspoken promise to himself to see the sun go down over the horizon as often as he humanly could while still maintaining his schedule. Sometimes during his winter classes, when night fell upon the city earlier and earlier, Eren would leave class just to make sure he didn’t miss the sunset. He would run over to the library and climb up all the flights of stairs just to get out onto the roof. 

It was a magical feeling to be up there. Eight stories above the ground below, Eren could see all of the campus beneath him. The campus was already fairly pretty, Eren had to admit, but the red sky made it feel like he was stepping into a painting as he leaned against the railing. The frigid winter air would dance through his hair, but it would fail to cool him off. 

He would just smile to himself and stare at the sun slipping down the sides of skyscrapers. He’d sometimes felt himself tear up as he thought of his mother, and occasionally he would talk to her. She was buried in her home town which was all the way across the county, but the quiet words he shared with her when he watched the sunset always felt like they were heard. Eren had wanted to visit her there and talk to her there, but he gave up once money got as tight as a noose. 

Most of the time he’d find himself talking to her when the sky had already turned into an inky dark mess. It felt healing to Eren, but he knew he still needed help to get over her death. Death was natural of course, but something about her death just seemed so unfair. It seemed cruel, and unnecessary. How was he supposed to do this without her? 

Eren wondered how much easier would his life be if she was still there to guide him. If she hadn’t died, would Eren realize how much she meant to him? Would he still take her for granted? Eren didn’t know, but he’d like to imagine that if she was still here, he’d shower her with love and praise. It’s what she deserved after all. His mother was a simple woman with a big heart. She didn’t deserve her horrible ending.

Eren shook his head and tried to focus on the task at hand and stopped at the street corner. He looked up at the sky above him. Skyscrapers stretched into the heavens above them and framed the sky as if it was a painting. The bright oranges hadn’t dipped into a deep red yet, so Eren guessed he still had plenty of time to get back home. He was about four blocks away so Eren took a deep breath and assured himself that he was going to get back in time.

There weren’t any real repercussions to missing the sunset, other than Eren would just be sad for the evening. He didn’t feel like he was letting his mother down or anything, but he would feel like he had lost an opportunity to talk to her. 

Armin understood Eren’s little thing about the sunset, thankfully. He would often step out of their apartment when he could and let Eren have some privacy while talking to his mother. It hurt Armin to see Eren still bent out of shape over his mother’s death, but he was no different. They both had lost both of their parents. Armin didn’t really have rituals like Eren did, but he wished he did on occasion. He wished there was something he could do to comfort himself after all this time.

Eren arrived at their apartment slightly out of breath and pushed open the lobby doors and bolted towards the stairs. He tightened his grip on his bag as he ran up the stairs, trying to take it two steps at a time without tripping. He passed by some of their neighbors. Many smiled and waved at Eren, but more glared at Eren and wished he would just chill the fuck out for a goddamn minute. 

“Armin?” Eren called out as he stepped into their apartment. He glanced around the tiny living space before spotting him reading on his bed. “Armin!” He called out again trying to get his friend’s attention. 

Armin snapped out of his trance like state and looked up at his friend. “Oh? How’d your date go?”

Eren smiled and closed the door behind him and locked it. “It was amazing!” He dropped his bag by the door and walked over to his own bed before flopping down on it. “He’s kinda quiet but he seems really sweet! He’s super pretty too. I should have taken pictures.”

“How could you, Eren,” Armin chuckled, “How could you forget to take pictures?”

“I was going to,” Eren rubbed the back of his neck “but I got distracted.”

Armin put a bookmark in his book before resting it on the nightstand. “Distracted by what?”

“Well…” Eren’s excuse quickly trailed off and Armin pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Did you leave your date to go play pretend and be a superhero?” Armin’s judgement was clear in his sapphire eyes and pierced through Eren’s soul.

Eren felt both angered and ashamed of his best friend’s words and huffed. “I was not playing pretend.”

“Of course, you weren’t.” Armin pushed himself out of the bed and headed towards their tiny kitchen. 

Eren didn’t bother to follow him, but did roll over on the bed to face him. “We met up later and he says he was fine with it. No harm, no foul.” 

“Eren,” His friend turned to him with pleading look in his eyes. “You do realize he might not be too excited about you being- “

Eren sat up as he cut him off. “Bisexual?”

Armin sighed and opened one of their cupboards and pulled out the loaf of bread. “I was going to say a vigilante,” he whispered. Their neighbors were gone on vacation, but Armin still didn’t want to risk anyone overhearing through the paper-thin walls

“Armin.” Eren’s brows furrowed as he glared at his friend.

Armin put the bread down on the table before turning to look at Eren. “There’s several red flags surrounding your hobby!”

“It’s not a fucking hobby!” He snarled as he stood up from the bed.

“Well it’s not a fucking job either!”

“It might be one day!” Eren nearly yelled as he walked over to his roommate. 

“Keep your voice down.” Armin hushed him, realizing how dangerous this conversation might just be.

“You were the one that raised your voice first!” 

“Let’s just go to the car.” Armin grabbed his keys from off the counter and slipped his old sneakers on. 

Eren followed him out and they both walked down the stairs in silence. Eren felt some of his anger melt away as he was forced to rein in their argument a little bit. The stairwell looked very different when Eren wasn’t running through it. It felt wrong to him for some reason. 

They walked out of the lobby and into the tiny, poorly lit parking lot. Eren saw the sky turning red and made a mental note to try and make this quick. He hopped into the old car and buckled himself up as Armin joined him and sat down in the driver’s seat. 

Eren waited a moment before continuing where they left off. “If I join the Corps then I could easily get rid of our student loans. I could pay for health insurance. Fuck, I could afford to send you back to school so you could get five degrees like you dreamed of.”

“You joining the Corps would be incredibly fucking dangerous and you could get killed within a week.” Armin reminded him.

“Every reward has a risk, Armin.”

“Eren, there’s no way in hell the Corps would allow you to join their ranks. There’s just no way. I’m sorry.” Armin begged him to see reason.

“You don’t know that.” Eren growled and curled his fingers in his lap. 

“Eren, we see heroes, real heroes, die every day. We see them get shot to death trying to prevent bank robberies. We see them get blown up trying to defuse bombs. We see them die at the hands of super villains almost every week.” His best friend felt tears in his eyes imagining Eren becoming one of the corpses that the media talks about for a day and a half before moving on.

“Do you think I’m not aware of that?” Eren turned to look out the window of their car, feeling the argument grow somber.

“From the way you’re so passionate about joining them? No, I don’t think you’re fucking aware of it.”

“Do you just think I’m a weak little shithead that’s gonna get rinsed within my probation period?” Eren’s fists clenched tighter and he felt sweat forming on his brow again as he felt himself heating up. 

Armin turned and looked away before whispering, “I don’t think you’re weak.” 

“But you think I’d die just as fast as a normal civilian.”

“Hey, you’re talking to a civilian here.” Armin tried to put his hand on Eren’s shoulder to help him rein in his anger a little. 

“Exactly! People like me are supposed to protect people like you! We’re supposed to make sure the defenseless don’t have to live in fear of the world around you! We’re here to make sure that civilians don’t live like livestock just waiting for the slaughter.”

Armin pulled his hand away a little and chuckled a little bit. “Could you, uh, not phrase shit like that? You’re making me uncomfortable.”

“This is all the damn Syndicate’s fault. They’re the reason the world’s this way. I’ll kill them all.” Eren opened up his fists and stared down at his hands, watching flames starting to flicker from his fingertips. 

“Eren, can you please calm down a little?” Armin unbuckled his seatbelt and pushed himself against the car door and held onto the handle. 

“I won’t let a single one of them live. I’ll burn them all.” Eren snarled as he clenched his fists and let the flames cover his fingers. 

“EREN.” Armin opened up the door and bolted out of the car. The sudden gust of wind that came in helped to put out Eren’s fire. His shock put out the rest of it. 

When Eren finally realized how far he had gotten, he felt his heart get lodged in his throat. “Oh god, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” 

Armin put a hand over his own heart and let himself breathe a little bit. “Let’s… Let’s just go back home and try to fix up something to eat.”

Eren sat in the car, looking down at his hands for a few moments, before getting out of the car and following his childhood friend. He glanced up at the sky before walking into the apartment building and saw the sky turning dark. 

He had missed the sunset. 

Eren stayed silent as they walked up the stairs again and didn’t make eye contact with any of their neighbors as they passed them. Armin glanced back at his friend and didn’t fully forgive him for losing himself back there, but he knew Eren probably felt like shit. When they got back to their apartment, he immediately grabbed their jar of peanut butter and some jelly. 

There was nothing like a childhood favorite to try and cheer him up. When Armin handed Eren the plate, he could see Eren’s eyes grow a little bit softer and his mouth tweaked up a bit. Armin considered it a success. 

“So, you mentioned you met up with Levi after you ditched out on your date?” Armin tried to steer things back to a happier topic. 

Eren took a bite of his sandwich and didn’t bother to swallow completely before talking. “Yeah, apparently, we share a class, he just doesn’t usually show up.”

“Understandable.” Armin nodded. They both tried to show up to class as often as possible, but it wasn’t always the best learning method for each person.

Eren swallowed his food before looking his friend dead in the eyes. “Armin, I think we were made for each other.” 

“I see,” Armin tented his fingers and considered Eren’s very serious expression, “and how long have you known him?”

“We met yesterday.” Eren said. His face remained serious, but Armin had to stifle a giggle. 

“You’ve known him for less than twenty-four hours.”

“More than.” Eren frowned. 

“Sorry. You’ve known him for more than twenty-four hours,” Armin corrected himself “and you’re already saying he’s your soulmate.” 

Eren simply nodded in response.

“I see, well, is Mr. Soulmate going to walk out on you when he finds out you’re a… you know.” Armin tried to not fully outright say it, but thankfully Eren picked up on it. 

“If he finds out.” He folded his arms.

“When he finds out,” Armin continued, “is he gonna dump your ass?”

“I don’t think so. He’s a bit of a frosty one.” Eren smirked and took another bite of the PB and J. 

Armin’s brows furrowed as he stared at Eren for a few seconds. “What the fuck does that even mean.”

“He’s kinda naturally cold, very cold.” Eren smiled and saw sudden realization strike his friend. 

“Oh, is he?” Armin smiled back. Of course, Eren would be lucky enough to meet his elemental opposite. 

“Now you understand why I think we’re made for each other?” 

“Sort of, but wait at least a month before saying that to him for fuck’s sake.” Armin chuckled and finished his dinner. 

“Armin, when he touches me, I can breathe for once. I don’t feel like I’m about to pass out from the heat, I don’t feel like I’m constantly burning alive. I don’t know how he feels, but I think he feels the same way.” Eren picked up both of their plates and carried them over to the sink to soak for a bit.

“If that’s the case,” Armin stretched his arms above his head and started to head to the bathroom, “I hope you two make this work.”

“I hope so too.” Eren smiled to himself as he went to put on his pajamas. He sat down on his bed and waited for Armin to finish up brushing his teeth.

“You deserve happiness in your life, Eren.” Armin started as he walked out of the bathroom. “I’m glad he can provide that for you, but don’t get yourself hurt in the process of falling for him.”

“Don’t worry.” Eren gave a quiet chuckle. “If I scrape up my knee falling for him I can just get him to use his hand as an ice pack.”

“Maybe he can just kiss it better for you.” Armin teased as he pulled the covers back on his bed. 

“Even better!” Eren stepped into the bathroom and grabbed his toothbrush and got to work. He stretched his legs a bit as he brushed his teeth. A little bit of minty froth fell out of his mouth as he yawned and saw his reflection in the mirror.

Was his hair that messy all day? Fuck. Eren picked up his comb and quickly ran it through his hair before walking out of the bathroom and turned the light off in the bedroom. 

“Goodnight, Eren.” Armin whispered as he climbed into bed.

“Goodnight, Armin.”

\---

“You’re here again today!” Eren smiled as he took the seat next to Levi. 

“I had no idea you were in this class, but now that I know, I thought I should try to make the effort to come in more.” Levi explained and shut his laptop gently before Eren got a good look at what he was working on.

“That’s super sweet, babe.” Eren rested his hand on Levi’s and smirked as blush spread across his face.

“No problem.” Levi tried to keep his voice even as always, but Eren could hear him waver a bit. It stroked Eren’s ego in all the right ways. 

Professor Hanji started their lecture and neither of them could seem to focus on it. Eren tried to take notes but gave up and leaned against Levi. He thought Levi had been taking notes too, but it looked more like he was filling out paperwork.

“What are you working on?” Eren asked and tried to grab the paper before Levi could shut the folder.

“Hey!” Levi slapped his hand away and put his folder back into his bag.

Levi’s reprimand didn’t do much to deter Eren. “Is it super-secret classified stuff?” Eren asked, still hoping that Levi had some sort of connection to the Corps. 

“No, it’s nothing like that, it’s just work-related stuff.”

“What’s your job?” Eren asked as he sat back upright in his own seat. 

“I’m interning for my uncle.” Levi answered and refused to give any other information.

Eren nodded and waited for Levi to say something. An awkward silence fell between them and Eren decided to break it about five minutes later. “So, uh…”

“Yes?” Levi asked once Eren tailed back into silence.

“Do you wanna hold hands again?” Eren looked like an eager puppy to Levi and it absolutely killed his heart. 

Levi sighed and pulled his hand away. “I’m not sure.”

“Are you going to make me beg for it?” Eren smirked and leaned in closer. 

“No, it’s not like that. I just worry that others might-“ 

Eren interrupted him. “If they got something against two guys holding hands, then they’re gonna have to catch my hands.”

“They’d have to catch my hands too in that case. But I was actually going to say that we don’t know what the long-term effects of it are. It feels good for this moment in time, but what if your touch starts to burn me? I’ve never met someone who affects me like you.” Levi admitted and looked away. 

“You’re worried that I’ll hurt you?” Eren looked back down at his hand and remembered the incident in the car.

“I’m worried that we wouldn’t know when the pleasure starts and the pain begins.” Levi looked back at Eren with furrowed brows. 

“Levi, I’d never try to hurt you.” Eren said to reassure both of them.

“I didn’t think you ever would, but that doesn’t mean we should try to be cautious when playing with fire.” Levi pulled his laptop open and started typing some notes. 

“Was that intentional?” Eren giggled. He was quite the fan of shitty ass puns.

“No,” Levi paused and considered what he had just said, “but I’m not unproud of it.”

“It wasn’t very ice of you.” Eren snickered and broke out into a full giggle when Levi rolled his eyes.

Levi rubbed his furrowed brows and sighed. “Eren, I will dump you right here and right now.”

Eren gasped and put his hand over his own heart. “Oh, are you going to give me the cold shoulder?”

“Eren.” Levi rolled his eyes and paid attention to the lecture for a minute. 

Eren tried to follow his lead, but movement from outside the window caught his attention. It was hard to see what was going on, but it looked like a standard fight in an alleyway. 

“Eren?” Levi jostled his shoulder to try and get his attention.

“I need to be right back.” Eren mumbled without even looking Levi in the eyes. He pulled his hero suit bag out of his backpack and stood up. 

Levi didn’t say anything, but just stared at Eren as he left out the back door of the lecture hall. He tried to focus on the lecture, but he kept glancing back at the door wondering when Eren was going to get back. He looked at his watch for a brief moment before shutting his laptop and getting up to follow Eren. He considered texting Eren to find out where he went, but he just decided to search the bathrooms first. 

He walked down the nearly empty hallway, nervous and worried, hoping to see Eren walk out of the bathroom and reassure him that everything was fine. But instead, Levi pushed open the bathroom door and saw Eren standing there. Levi’s brows furrowed as he tried to understand what he was looking at. 

Eren looked at him and panicked and realized that it was too late to put his mask on and pretend that he wasn’t Eren. He took a deep breath and tried to figure out how to explain this to Levi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the long wait! ;;  
> I'm not abandoning this fic!


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